Monday, January 17, 2011

Everyone can let New England Patriots coach Bill Beichick off the hook for the fake punt gone wrong late in the second quarter. Safety Patrick Chung figured it was a bright idea to call for the failed play, not Belichick. Patriots fans can save their vitriol for Chung. He might get the Bill Buckner treatment since it came out tha he was solely responsible for the mishap. Chung fumbled the snap and lost a yard on the play which led to a Mark Sanchez to Braylon Edwards touchdown.

"We trust the decision Patrick makes," punter Zoltan Mesko said. "It just didn’t work out in that particular occasion. That’s why the coaches trust him to run it, and that's why they give him the green light, if he has it."

The only play call call Chung should be making is on the defensive side of the ball or on a special teams blocking assignment. Not on whether to call a fake punt or not. Just because the Patriots had numbers on the line in their favor doesn't mean you make that call. What kind of daredevil crap is that?

"Of course there are regrets. It's not [head coach] Bill [Belichick] or [special teams coach] Scott O'Brien," Chung said. "None of them. I take full responsibility. I saw the look we had. I made the call. It didn't work out for us."

Chung admitted that it was his call and not (special teams coach) Scott O'Brien or Belichick's and has taken full responsibilty. I applaud him for manning up in this situation. It could've been very easy to leave Scott and Bill holding the bag. Considering the non descript career Chung has had so far, I might've done that. if he's lucky enough to be around next season, maybe he ought to burn a timeout before making a ridiculous call such as this one.

Hue Jackson has reportedly been named head coach of the Oakland Raiders. I'm glad Jackson got the job but Tom Cable shouldn't have been fired in the first place. That's just my personal opinion. I hope he hs thick skin because you know how Al Davis gives his coaches no wiggle room and zero margin for error. Also he'll have to win over the locker room that had grown increasingly loyal to Cable. I don't know how well Jackson got along with the players, but he is known for relating well to plaers and is a highly regarded play-caller.

If Jason Campbell can continue to progress under Jackson the Raiders could be threat to make the playoffs next season. Yes, I think Campbell will be the starter in Oakland next year. If Campbell regresses, Captain Al might start reminding Hue how much of a short leash he has.